Why have I been chosen? You have been chosen because you are either a practicing educational psychologist, in training, or working as an assistant educational psychologist.

Do I have to take part? No. It is up to you to decide whether to take part. You will be asked to sign a consent form if you participate. However, you can withdraw by not completing the post-questionnaire or after completing the questionnaire by contacting the researcher and providing your unique code.

What will happen to me if I take part? This is a two-group intervention study with repeated measures. If you decide to participate, you will be asked for three pieces of information that will be your unique identifier. You will then be invited to complete a pre-questionnaire. Next, you will be asked to set a calendar link for 30 days. You will then either be assigned to an experimental group, in which case you will receive a link to engage in an online training session at your convenience, or to a control group (in which case you do not receive a link to the e-resource. Finally, after 30 days, all participants will be reminded via a calendar link to complete a post-intervention questionnaire. You will be asked for the same three pieces of memorable information once again. If you have not yet received a link to the training intervention, you will do so at this stage.

The study will take part in the stages outlined: Questionnaire Stage one involves creation of your unique identifier using three pieces of memorable information, then complete a two-part questionnaire that takes approximately 10 minutes. Following this will either: a) Be asked to set a calendar reminder for 30 days, and receive a link to the intervention. (Experimental group) b) Be asked to set a calendar link for 30 days (control group)

Experimental group The experimental group will be invited to complete an interactive e-learning resource that provides information about the outcomes of preterm birth and strategies that can be used to support the learning of those born pre-term. This resource involves approximately one hour of learning activity. You will be asked to complete this training within 30 days.

Post-intervention survey You will be reminded via a calendar link to complete a post-intervention survey after 30 days. You will resubmit your three pieces of memorable information and then be invited to complete the post questionnaire. If you have not received the intervention, it will be provided at this stage. If you have received the intervention, you will then be given the option to participate in a focus group. If you choose to do so, you will be asked to indicate this on the post-intervention survey, and the researcher will contact you to arrange the group.

Focus Groups  Two focus groups will be conducted with a group of educational psychologists/trainees/ from the experimental group. in other words they will have completed the e-learning resource The groups will ask about the main implications of supporting children born preterm, seek feedback on how the e-resource could be applied going forward, and determine if any alterations need to be made for training educational psychologists in the future.

What are the possible risks or disadvantages of taking part? Participating in the research is not anticipated to cause you any disadvantage or discomfort. You will be asked to talk about your everyday experience and knowledge of assessing and supporting children who have been born preterm, so the potential psychological harm or distress should be minimal.

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential? All the information we collect about you during the research will be strictly confidential. You will not be identified or identifiable in any reports or publications. You will create unique identification code that we can use to store and analyse your data anonymously. Any data collected about you will be encrypted and protected by passwords and other relevant security processes and technologies. These have all been approved by the QUB Ethics panel. Only the researcher and research supervisors can access your data.

What if I want to withdraw my data? At Stage 1 of this study, the questionnaire website anonymizes your data under your unique identifier. However, if you wish to remove your data, you can do so until 1 April 2025 by clicking on a link provided at the end of the post-intervention survey. This will take you to a webpage that asks you to input your unique identifier. We will then use that identifier to delete your data within 5 days.

What will happen to the results of the research? The results of the research will be published in a doctoral thesis. You will not be identified in any report or publication. The report may also be viewed by educational professionals and professionals within the Educational Authority and may be published in an academic journal. Anonymised data will be made available on the Open Science Framework (a repository for study data) for other scientists to view.

What if something goes wrong? If you have any concerns about any aspects of the study, you can contact the Chief Investigator, Anthea Percy, or the researcher, Aisling Donnelly. Contact details are below. If you remain unhappy and wish to formally complain, contact the Research Governance Team at Queen’s University Belfast (Telephone: 028 9097 2529; Email: anthea.percy@qub.ac.uk).